WSOF 11 results: Justin Gaethje TKOs Nick Newell in network-TV debut

Justin Gaethje notched his first title defense and scored a TKO win over durable Nick Newell in today’s WSOF 11 headliner, which marked the organization’s network-television debut.

The WSOF lightweight champion navigated a dangerous and offense-oriented first round before taking control in the second. His title fight aired on NBC from Ocean Center in Daytona, Fla., following prelims on MMAjunkie.

In an action-packed first round, Gaethje and Newell traded heavy blows in the opening minute. Newell, a congenital amputee who was born with a partially developed left arm, appeared to get the better of it, but as he tried to work in takedowns, Gaethje made him pay from the top. He was active on the ground with punches and knees to the body, and as the round wore on, he was the more effective striker once standing. Newell proved more than game and landed some heavy blows, but the round appeared to be Gaethje’s.

The second round, though, was much more decisive. Gaethje struck first and dropped Newell with punches, and once back up, he battered his bloodied opponent with head and body shots. Newell noticeably slowed in the round, and a patient Gaethje made him pay. Aside from a timeout so the doctor could check his cut, Newell got no reprieve. Moments after the brief timeout, Gaethje dropped him with a clean right to the head, and the ref mercifully waved it off.

The TKO stoppage came at the 3:09 mark of the second round.

“I’ve been asking for one thing, and that’s a war, and that’s Nick just gave me,” Gaethje said. “So I appreciate him and I think him.”

Gaethje (12-0), who’s now 5-0 with WSOF, remains undefeated and has posted knockouts in his past seven fights. Newell (11-1), meanwhile, suffers his first career loss as he faced his toughest opponent to date.

Fitch cruises in co-headliner

In the night’s co-headliner, veteran welterweights met in a middleweight bout as Jon Fitch shut out Dennis Hallman for a dominant unanimous-decision victory.

Fitch (26-6-1), who went through a series of opponent switches that started with WSOF welterweight champion Rousimar Palhares’ withdrawal, simply manhandled Hallman (53-15-2) over 15 minutes.

In fact, according to the WSOF broadcast, Fitch landed 167 strikes to Hallman’s eight.

After knocking his opponent off balance, Fitch followed Hallman to the mat and spent much of the first round with sporadic ground and pound while trying to improve his position. Aside from a kneebar, Fitch was never in any real danger and easily won the round.

In the second round, Fitch quickly wrapped his opponent’s hips, slammed him to the mat, and continued his trusty ground-and-pound assault. He was especially effective when standing over his opponent and raining down heavier blows, but like the first round, Hallman nearly capitalized with a kneebar and heel hook.

Fitch, though, survived, and in the third round, he amped up his ground-and-pound onslaught. Some early-round hammerfists did damage, and additional punches and elbows to the head and body further bloodied and bruised Hallman, who simply had no answer from his back.

In the end, the judges gave Fitch the fight via unanimous 30-27 scores.

Fitch has now won two straight since a WSOF-debut loss to Josh Burkman. Hallman, meanwhile, snaps a three-fight winning streak and suffers just his second defeat in seven bouts.

Bollinger wins ground battle with Alfonso

Cody Bollinger not only escaped some trouble on the ground, he ultimately got the victory there moments later.

Facing fellow bantamweight Pablo Alfonso (in a 138-pound catchweight fight since Bollinger missed weight), the Californian escaped some early guillotine chokes to reverse the position and attempt some submissions of his own.

After breaking free of the chokes, Bollinger (16-2) slapped on a guillotine choke before transitioning to the fight-ending rear-naked choke. Once he secured his hooks and torqued the choke, he forced Alfonso (9-6) to tap at the 2:37 mark of the opening round.

Bollinger has now won three straight and is 8-1 (with one no-contest) since 2010. After the fight, he said his days at 135 pounds are over.

Alfonso, who was fresh off an upset of former WEC champ Miguel Torres at WSOF 6, snaps a three-fight winning streak.

Patient Guillard scores TKO over ex-teammate

Fighting in his first non-UFC bout 2008, veteran lightweight Melvin Guillard (32-13-2) looked as sharp as ever after earning a solid second-round TKO victory over Gesias Cavalcante (18-8-1) in the day’s main-card opener.

Both fighters looked for the fight-ending blow early in the fight, but Guillard proved a little more patient. It resulted in him eating some kicks to the head, but the vet shook them off, came up a bit short on straight punches, but found success with counter uppercuts and a big left hand that he followed with a pair of knees. Cavalcante answered with low kicks, but Guillard’s counter-shots became increasingly accurate as the round wore on.

In the second round, Cavalcante temporarily slowed down his opponent with a takedown and clinch against the cage, but once free, Guillard took over the bout. Facing a former Blackzilians teammate, Guillard first staggered Cavalcante with a straight right, and he quickly followed with a barrage of punches. As Cavalcante leaned against the cage, Guillard tagged him with uppercuts, standing elbow strikes and a fight-ending punch that prompted the referee’s intervention.

Cavalcante never fell to the mat, but the stoppage, which came at the 2:36 mark of the second round, was justified.

“I went out there and had a hell of a debut,” Guillard said. “He even got me on the ground, and I got back up and handled business. I’ve got a black belt in knocking people out. I’m excited to be here with WSOF, and this is only the beginning.

“My only miscue was missing weight by a pound, and as a professional, I take full responsibility for that, but at the same time, we had a super early weigh-in, and if I had that last bit of extra time it would have been a non-issue.”

With the win, which marked his 21st knockout in 32 career victories, Guillard creates some distance from a 2-5 skid that cost him his UFC job and moves closer to his goal of fighting for the WSOF belt. Cavalcante, meanwhile, falls to 2-4 since 2011.

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